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Shore Acres residents dealing with devastation from Helene: 'It's overwhelming'

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Published  September 30, 2024 5:47am EDT
Hurricane Helene
FOX 13 News

Homes destroyed in Shore Acres neighborhood

FOX 13's Jordan Bowen spoke with a woman in St. Pete's Shore Acres neighborhood who lost everything in Hurricane Helene.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Debris piles line the streets in St. Pete's Shore Acres neighborhood as residents clean up from Hurricane Helene. The area saw homes with several feet of water inside.

Before she evacuated, resident Marie Rowley stacked sand bags several feet around her home, but it was no match for the 3 feet of water that got inside.

It destroyed all of her belongings. Like so many others, she says the support from neighbors, friends and family is the one thing helping her get through this.

"This was the living room. The water rose just again, over three feet. All throughout within here as well," Rowley said.

Rowley says the shock of it all is still sinking in. Her house in Shore Acres, which she has only called home for a little over a year, is now gutted.

"When I opened the front door, all I could, it was just a whiff of dirty water… and then everything was just moved around. Everything was moved around because it was all lifted. It got shuffled. And so it was just a shock of, oh, whoa, like this is all just ruined," Rowley said.

READ: How to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene: Resources, donations, government programs

She got her first look inside when she opened the door on Sunday morning. The water receded, but all of her belongings were destroyed. She says friends and family came together Sunday to help her clear out all of her belongings and start ripping out the water-damaged dry wall.

Courtesy: Marie Rowley

"It's devastating. I mean, people don't have any hope. They have. But what do people do if they don't have families or places they can crash like I have? I have places I can crash. My parents are an hour away. I have friends that are offering up places, but for people who had just lost their home, they have no place to go," Rowley said.

Rowley says neighbors have been helping one another in any way they can. For now, she's working with her insurance company to file a claim. While she is staying elsewhere while her home gets repaired, she says she is planning to fully rebuild.

READ: 2 Pinellas County schools shut down after Hurricane Helene

"It just, it's overwhelming and it's devastating. And it is just truly something that people don't ever think that they're going to need to go through. Even though you live in a flood zone," Rowley said.

For now, Shore Acres residents are putting debris from their homes on the curb. It's not clear yet when the city plans to do storm debris pick up.

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